Facebook expands Messenger Kids to Android despite outcry

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Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks at the F8 summit in San Francisco, California, on March 25, 2015. Zuckerberg introduced a new messenger platform at the event. In late 2017, Facebook rolled out Messenger Kids. (Josh Edelson/AFP/Getty Images)

A couple of weeks ago, child advocates urged Facebook to pull the plug on its new messaging app for children.

This week, Facebook expanded Messenger Kids to Android.

Those child advocates, which include parent and teachers groups and health experts, say Facebook has not responded to their requests to talk about the issue. In opposing the messaging app, which is aimed at children younger than 13, they cite research that shows technology’s detrimental effects on children’s physical and mental health. It makes no sense to get kids started on the road to possible tech and social-media addiction so young, critics of the app say.

“Facebook’s decision to double down on Messenger Kids without consideration for the concerns raised by child development experts reveals that the company is far more interested in increasing its market share than in having a constructive dialogue about what is best for children,” said Josh Golin, executive director for Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood, which is leading the effort to put pressure on Facebook, in a statement this week.

A Facebook spokeswoman said Wednesday that the company would have no further comment beyond its official statement in January, which touted Messenger Kids as a way for parents to keep in touch with their children.

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Facebook also has said it consulted with “an advisory committee of parenting and developmental experts” when it was creating the messaging app. Wednesday, Wired reported that many of those experts received funding from Facebook. For example, the magazine notes that the National PTA says Facebook donated money to the organization for the first time last year.

Facebook told Wired it has not tried to keep its ties to the experts a secret.